He won the hearts of millions, becoming the most well known killer whale the world over.

Keiko, the star of "Free Willy," in which a boy befriends a captive killer whale and coaxes him to jump over a sea park wall to freedom, died from pneumonia last month, being silently buried in the frozen, Norwegian tundra during a secret funeral.  Whales are typically put out to sea after death, making Keiko's resting place a befitting honor.

Keiko had, two years ago, been released into the ocean after a fierce debate whether captive animals could be returned to the wild.  He never strayed far from humans, keeping company with them in a Norwegian fjord to the very end.  The friendly orca swam up to small boats, and welcomed people to swim with him or even crawl up on his back.

"He spoke the language (of whales) but he just seemed to be confused," said Jeff Foster, whose Seattle-based group, Marine Research Consultants, oversaw Keiko's care in Iceland for three years before he was released in 2002.

Keiko was born in 1977 or 78 off Iceland, and was caught for the aquarium industry in 1979.  His name means "Lucky One" in Japanese.

He will be missed.

Croc Kills Man, Trees Others
by Jonathan Drake
S: CNN (12-22-03)

Saltwater crocodiles have a reputation for being the most dangerous of the crocodilians.  Last month, sadly, they continued to uphold that reputation.

Three men were washing their motorbikes in the Finniss River in the remote Norther Territory of Australia when the 13-foot (four-meter) crocodile attacked.  Brett Mann, 22-years of age, was quickly pulled under as he stood in the river, while his two 19-year-old companions rushed into the water to try and save him.  The croc then turned on them, forcing the two to climb a tree in the middle of the river.

Soon after, they saw the crocodile swim past with Mann's remains in its jaws.

The crocodile continued to stalk the men until they were rescued by helicopter after friends alerted authorities they had not returned from their trail-bike riding expedition.  They were treated for shock and hypothermia.

The river was flooded as a result of a recent cyclone and was "awash" with animals, according to police.

Feline Hitches A Ride Across State
S: As Reported In The Oakland Press (12-20-03)

The hitchhiker was small, wore a long gray coat and didn't say a word through the whole trip. Tracker - a long-haired gray cat - may have used up one of its nine lives when it rode unseen in a vehicle engine compartment 150 miles between the Kalamazoo area to Rochester Hills last month.

"He was very lucky," says Patricia Verduin, board president of Pontiac's Michigan Animal Rescue League, which is Tracker's current home. "Especially because the driver didn't stop."

Around Thanksgiving, Allison (she did not want to give her last name), a college freshman studying on the state's west side and a friend of Verduin, was anxious to get back home for the holidays.

The student jumped into her Chevrolet Tracker and drove home to Rochester Hills without stopping, Verduin explained, "not even for a burger."

"When she got out, she heard this intense kitty-crying," she says. "She thought she'd run over a cat."

Allison and her family looked everywhere for the sound. Finally, when the hood was lifted, there sat a cat on the top of the engine.

"He was sitting very still," Verduin continued. "It was like he didn't know what to do."

The motoring mouser, a Russian Blue-angora mixed breed who came through his journey unscathed, may have slipped into the engine compartment to keep warm, observers speculate.

Because Allison and her family already had a houseful of pets, they dropped him off at the Michigan Animal Rescue League.

Tracker is ready to settle down and be adopted, shelter officials state.

"He's a very friendly cat," says Kayla Allen, the shelter's manager, who believes Tracker is still quite young. "He's a healthy eater, loves to play and interacts well with other animals."

The feline fugitive joins many other homeless pals at the shelter. "It's been a bigger year for kittens and cats particularly," says Verduin, pointing at a sign on the shelter wall that states one cat and its offspring can produce 420,000 cats in seven years.

"There are so many feral cats out there, and people forget cats can have a litter at six-to-nine months and then they all can have a litter," she explains. "It's a very serious problem."

TOP